Skepticon 7 Presents a Speaker Spotlight Series (Volume 3)

This morning brings you the third installment of our Speaker Spotlight Series. For those of you who have been attending Skepticon since the beginning, you’ll find some fresh new faces to get you all excited. For those of you who discovered Skepticon recently because your favorite speaker will be presenting with us, check out some of our “tenured” speakers and see what all the fuss is about. You can view any past Skepticon video on our website.

Drumroll, please! Melanie Brewster is the Assistant Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, and earned her Ph.D from the University of Florida. Her research focuses on marginalized groups and examines how experiences of discrimination and stigma may shape the mental health of minority group members (e.g., LGBTQ individuals, atheists, people of color). She also examines potential resilience factors, such as bicultural self-efficacy and cognitive flexibility, that may promote the mental health of minority individuals. Her first book, Atheists in America, was published June 2014 by Columbia University Press. For more information on what Melanie is up to, check out her Twitter at @melysebrewster .

Melanie has agreed to waive any honorariums and fees to speak at Skepticon for free. Even still, it will cost us about $850.00 to pay for Melanie’s airfare, taxis, and hotel room so that she can speak at Skepticon. If you’re excited to see her present, please consider donating to help cover the costs of getting her to Springfield, MO this November.